Photo: S. Subramanium

ANOTHER CONQUEST: India clinched the Hutch Cup ODI series with the perfect team effort.

Karachi: In considerable pain, he was limping towards the end. But he would not give his wicket away. He stayed to finish the job, like a team-man would.

Yuvraj Singh made a strong statement of character at the National Stadium here on Sunday. He might have been hobbling after straining his hamstring, but his adrenalin was pumping all right.

And his mind was not shackled; he has broken free mentally.

The Punjab left-hander continues to soar, and his unbeaten 107 (93b, 15x4) was as authoritative as India's thumping eight-wicket victory, chasing 287, achieved with 19 deliveries remaining on a good batting pitch. Rahul Dravid's men have clinched the Hutch Cup ODI series 4-1. India, rightly, opted to field.

Responsibility has motivated Yuvraj, India's latest vice-captain; the backing of the team-management has injected a huge dose of confidence into a cricketer who has been through a rocky road.

Yuvraj has responded in the manner of a champion. Man of the Match and the Man of the Series he was. While there has been a marked improvement in his footwork, shot-selection and strokes in the `V', the real transformation in Yuvraj has been in his thought process.

Dhoni's fireworks

And Mahendra Singh Dhoni (77 not out, 56b, 6x4, 4x6) was the hurricane that swept Pakistan's bowlers away. His bludgeoning blows settled the issue after India entered the final ten overs requiring 82 for victory. The self-belief of this cricketer is as daunting to his rivals as his big hits.

Dhoni backs himself, irrespective of the odds. On Sunday, he joined Yuvraj with the India score at 141 for two in 30 overs. The contest was very much in the balance. He collected runs easing into his drives and running hard between the wickets with Yuvraj, before putting his foot on the accelerator.

He struck Asif over covers for an astonishing six and dumped Mohammed Sami over long and mid-wicket. His batting is laced with the sort of arrogance that stems from confidence. In a match-winning partnership, the third-wicket pair gathered a rollicking unbeaten 146 in 99 balls. Yuvraj and Dhoni do sizzle together.

The Pakistani bowling, apart from a probing spell from paceman Rao Iftekar Anjum, was made to look ordinary.

The Pakistani fielding let the side down again. Mohammed Sami lost the ball twice. When on 64, Yuvraj was put down at covers by Shoaib Malik.

India preferred to rest Sachin Tendulkar and Irfan Pathan. Tendulkar carried the drinks, indicating that in this Indian side experience and youth blended into one.

In Tendulkar's absence, Rahul Dravid opened the innings with Gautam Gambhir.

The left-handed Gambhir sparkled with a few pick-up shots on the leg-side; this also showed Pakistan's pacemen were not bowling the right line.

Mohammed Asif has not been a big factor in the ODIs since the away going delivery is a lesser weapon in this variety of the game, especially if a side is bowling in the afternoon. It was his two-way movement that made him so dangerous in Tests.

Gambhir once again wasted a start, but the opening pair had, importantly, raised 69. Dravid's 50 (6x4) might have consumed 82 deliveries, but he made sure that, in the absence of Virender Sehwag and Tendulkar, the Indians had enough wickets in hand before they began the final onslaught. The chase was splendidly orchestrated.

Sreesanth's effort

It was Sreesanth who dented Pakistan in the morning after Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar shared the new ball. He is a hustling kind of a bowler who can prevent the batsman from settling into a rhythm with his variations in length.

The Kerala paceman, who is learning fast, cut down on his pace realising that there was not too much assistance for him from the wicket. He struck thrice and Pakistan, from 62 without loss, slumped to 77 for three. In the context of the match, Sreesanth's spell of 5-1-25-3 was crucial. Both Imran Farhat and Kamran Akmal, after putting together 62, fell to pull shots, and Shoaib Malik steered right into Suresh Raina's hands at gully. There is fluency about Sreesanth's run-up and action that is hard to ignore, and he did bowl well at the death, swinging the ball into the right-hander.

And off-spinner Ramesh Powar won a leg-before decision against an ominous looking Inzamam on the sweep; the delivery drifted into the right-hander from outside the off-stump and then straightened.

Paksitan recovered through a strokeful fifth-wicket stand of 95 in 110 balls between Mohammad Yousuf (67, 85b, 6x4) and vice-captain Younis Khan (74 not out, 79b, 3x4, 2x6). Yousuf appeared set for his hundred when he flicked Ajit Agarkar into Zaheer Khan at mid-wicket.

Abdul Razzaq biffed a 15-ball 24 before miscuing a pull of R.P. Singh, but Pakistan lost some momentum towards the end. However, the 18 runs off the last six balls by Zaheer came in handy for the side; Younis twice smote the left-armer over the mid-wicket ropes.

The bowlers, backed by aggressive fielding, had performed a fair job, under the conditions.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail